Best Financial Advisors in Chicago — the 10 That Made Our Cut

Chicagoland supports an unusually deep bench of registered investment advisors, spread from LaSalle Street towers out through Deerfield, Elmhurst, Naperville and across the state line into northwest Indiana. A few have been advising since the 1960s.

With the help of AI, our team worked through SEC Form ADVs — the filings every registered investment advisor owes the Securities and Exchange Commission and state regulators — for advisors in the Chicago area, pulling out fee schedules, account minimums and the specifics of what each firm does for clients. We then filtered the field, fact-checked all the details and scored every advisor according to our methodology to come up with this list of the best options.

Cost is a big part of our rubric. Accordingly, the advisors that made the cut all tend to have AUM fees around 1.0% or better. However, ranking these firms by price alone was never the aim. Firms that ask for neither an account minimum nor a minimum fee get our attention, since those are the ones a smaller investor can realistically approach. We also weighed the range of services on offer, how large each firm is, how long it has been registered and several related measures. Our methodology page sets out the whole process.

» Not in Chicago? See our picks for the best financial advisors nationwide

Fees are a big reason Hemsley Advisors rose to the top of the list. Its 0.60% AUM fee on balances over $50,000 is just a little over half what many advisors charge, which could mean hundreds or thousands of dollars in savings per year, depending on your balance. Hemsley Advisors also has no account minimum, so even the smallest investors can take advantage of the low rate, which we think is great. We like that the firm has been registered since 1994, so it’s got some experience with market swings. There is indeed a minimum fee at this firm, though, but at $300 it’s one of the smallest we’ve seen. Clients who don’t want portfolio management can get a la carte financial planning help for $200 an hour (the firm says it may reduce or waive that for portfolio management clients).

If you want to work with a large firm, The Mather Group will probably catch your eye. At $13.4 billion in assets under management, it is enormous. We like that it offers tax preparation (for an extra fee, unless you have more than $5 million under management, in which case it’s free), which is a big plus. And even though the firm doesn’t do estate document preparation itself, it covers up to $5,000 of that work through third-party providers or legal counsel. The firm’s AI policy, which is still rare among firms, sets limits on how AI is used and says human portfolio managers make the final investment decisions. We like this level of transparency. One downside with this firm, though, is the AUM fee: at 1.15%, it’s about 15 basis points higher than most advisors on the list. Crypto fans may also be disappointed: The Mather Group doesn’t recommend or advocate investing in crypto.

With $3 billion under management, Chesley, Taft & Associates is among the largest advisors on this list, and its registration goes back about a quarter century. There’s a steep account minimum at this firm ($1 million, but it’s negotiable). If you can make that hurdle, though, you’ll get a reasonable 1.00% AUM fee. Advisors commonly discount their AUM fees for clients with larger balances, and Chesley, Taft & Associates is no different, though you’ll have to get all the way to $3 million before the only step-down arrives. The firm doesn’t prepare tax returns or estate planning documents.

Fee structure, track record and AUM size are three big reasons River Street Advisors scored highly on our rubric. Clients start out at a relatively standard 1.00% AUM fee, and balances over $1 million get a decent fee break (some other advisors don’t do that until clients have $2 million or more). There’s a $250,000 account minimum, which is a downside, but the good news is that it’s relatively small compared to some other advisors on the list and many of the advisors we cut. One thing to note: River Street is the wealth-management arm of a community bank rather than a completely independent shop, which brings scale but also means the advisory relationship sits inside a banking business. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just something to be aware of.

Factor is the second-oldest registration on this list. Registered in 1989, its long history is a plus for investors looking for a firm that has been through more than a few market corrections. We like that the firm has no account minimum, which lets smaller investors through the door. Also, the firm’s four-tiered AUM fees offer discounts at $1 million, $2 million and $5 million, making it particularly responsive to clients who are growing their wealth. Downside: This firm doesn’t prepare tax returns or estate planning documents; you’ll have to hire other people to do that.

Registered since 1969, Graybill has the longest track record of any firm on this list, and it pairs that with pretty solid 1.00% AUM fees for sub-$1 million accounts. It also has no account minimum and no minimum fee. This all makes for a very strong combination for smaller investors. However, the firm won’t do your taxes, set up a trust for you or put together a will or medical directives; you’ll need to find and hire a CPA or attorney separately for those things.

The $1 million account minimum at Capstone Financial Advisors will be a barrier for some, but those who have the assets will pay a respectable 1.00% AUM fee (or less, if they have more than $2 million under management). Of note is that the firm says it does not use AI to make investment decisions or to select investments for clients. Also, in-house tax preparation is a rare find among advisors, so our eyes light up when we spot it in the wild. At Capstone Financial Advisors, it costs extra (the price depends on what you need done) but it’s a big service differentiator, especially for people who don’t have the time or energy to find and hire a CPA and then spend time getting them up to speed on all the tax-related things they talked about with their financial advisor.

Patrick M. Sweeney & Associates may be small, but it’s mighty. It’s one of the smallest firms on the list in terms of assets under management, and with a 2020 SEC registration date, it’s also a relatively new kid on the block. However, its fees are some of the lowest we’ve seen across the board – well under the popular 1.00% threshold that many advisors maintain. There’s an $800 minimum fee, which is comparatively very small and it is negotiable. The firm also has a substantial $500,000 account minimum, but if you can make that hurdle, the AUM fee structure could mean hundreds or thousands of dollars in savings per year depending on your balance. This firm also prepares tax returns, which we like. Very few firms do this, and it can be a huge help, especially for clients who want to ensure their tax returns synchronize with their tax planning.

Registered in 1984, Roberts, Glore & Co. is one of the most established firms on this list. We like that its seven-tier AUM fee schedule offers discounts at multiple points (at $500,000, $1 million, $2 million, $3 million, $5 million and $10 million), which gives more granular fee relief as your balance grows. However, the firm’s 1.13% blended AUM fee on a $1 million account is relatively expensive, and the $500,000 account minimum will shut out smaller investors. Also, it doesn’t prepare tax returns or estate planning documents.

Moller Wealth Partners has a long track record, no account minimum and an AUM fee schedule that can work well for clients with at least $800,000 (that’s the point at which the firm’s $8,000 minimum wealth management fee works out to a more competitive 1.00% rate). Clients with less than $800,000 will probably find lower AUM fees elsewhere. But for clients above that threshold, the fee schedule is very attractive. The rate halves to 0.50% on balances over $1 million, which is one of the steepest discounts we’ve seen. We like that Moller uses a planning calendar to address a different topic each quarter, moving through goal planning, estate planning and insurance planning during the year rather than leaving those conversations to chance.